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F1: Hakkinen to return?

Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
Original poster
May 7, 2004
15,714
5,573
Sod off
When McLaren hired him back, I didn't think much of it. When he did a test a few days ago, I figured it was a favor from McLaren. But it seems that Mika would like to get back in the saddle for real.

My prediction - he might make a great test driver (which he probably wouldn't accept), but as a race driver he'd be too rusty for a tream that needs to start winning races sooner rather than later. Still, if Lewis doesn't pan out, and they continue to ignore De la Rosa...they'd have to really shake up their driver plans to shoehorn Mika in.

An Alonso/Hakkinen pairing sounds exciting though, especially if the old man finds his speed.
 
As exciting as it is the news is pretty old:( Sorry to burst your bubble.

Even though he was in a "car" it was only a simulator and he did it for his own benefit and for some pointers for the team as a whole.

I think he's a bit too old to still be racing? And coming back will be such a shock as so many of the regulations change every year that, no?, I'm just confused!? Basically I just feel it's goanna be harder for an old driver to come back then for a new driver to begin.
 
Simulator?

I dont think the McLaren MP4-21 (I think!) is a simulator some how! He did very well considering he hasnt been in an F1 car for 5 years (only 3 seconds off the pace). He says that he wants more tests which I think he will get. McLaren are in a position where they need experienced feedback, especially with the current driver line-up:

Hamilton: Only done a handfull of tests

Alosno: From what I have heard not the greatest developer / feedback on car performance

De La Rosa: May just spit his dummy out and leave now Hamilton has the drive and Mika is on the scene.

i think this is a good move by McLaren and I see Schui doing the same thing with Ferrari.

I doubt that he will get a race seat this year. Only two or three seats are available and they are at the back of the grid.
 
R.Youden said:
Simulator?

I dont think the McLaren MP4-21 (I think!) is a simulator some how! He did very well considering he hasnt been in an F1 car for 5 years (only 3 seconds off the pace). He says that he wants more tests which I think he will get. McLaren are in a position where they need experienced feedback, especially with the current driver line-up:
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Well sorry if the highly secret F1 news I heard is different to the Top-secret news you heard!?
 
I am just trying to question why this was a supposed 'simulator'. I know that a lot of false rumors come out of Formula One, trust me on that! I also know that Ron Dennis (no matter how much he gets on with Mika) would never spend valuable money and VERY valuable track time on running a PR stunt in a car that did not provide valuable lap data. I am aware that Mika has been spending a lot of time with McLaren in Woking running virtual simulators but these don't give a true reflection of the car performance, especially dynamic handling over curbs etc which is such a major factor in modern F1.

I would be very surprised if this car was not 100% current spec and they wasted a day of endurance running on brand new Bridgestone rubber. From what I have seen of the lap times he has done more laps on a single set of tyres than anyone else this week so that data will be very useful to both McLaren and Bridgestone.
 
I'm not sure what your definition of "pretty old" is...itv just posted it today. :confused:

I knew Hakkinen was around Woking, but as R.Youden said I doubt that they'd let him test unless they believed he could drive the car fast enough to provide usable data.

My big question was not can he cut it, it was (and is) where is there room for him in the current lineup. The most obvious move would be to replace De La Rosa with Hakkinen, making him the test/reserve driver so he could get time in the car for a possible shot at a race seat in '08. But I doubt it.

I suppose they could use him as a second test driver, but Hamilton should be testing because he needs time in the car badly.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I'm not sure what your definition of "pretty old" is...itv just posted it today. :confused:

I knew Hakkinen was around Woking, but as R.Youden said I doubt that they'd let him test unless they believed he could drive the car fast enough to provide usable data.

My big question was not can he cut it, it was (and is) where is there room for him in the current lineup. The most obvious move would be to replace De La Rosa with Hakkinen, making him the test/reserve driver so he could get time in the car for a possible shot at a race seat in '08. But I doubt it.

I suppose they could use him as a second test driver, but Hamilton should be testing because he needs time in the car badly.
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From what I understand (and yes I too have very inside info ;) ) things are not too good with De La Tosa (sorry Rosa) and he doesn't want to stay because he doesn't like not being given the drive after doing OK last year. McLaren also have the services of Gary Paffett to call upon after his deal with Honda was cancelled at the last minute. I think that with Mika and Gary as test drivers it would be great for them and they would get some very valuable information. Ron likes to keep his friends very close and wants some comforting faces around after the farce with Montoya and his "tennis" accident.
 
I was (and still am) a Montoya fan, so the whole thing sucked for me. Granted, he had a fairly crap year and never really lived up to his hype in F1, but I belive that in the right circumstances he could have been champion. Plus he was just so entertaining to watch. ;) ...But he never really fit in at McLaren.

De La Rosa has had some very nice performances over the last few seasons, but McLaren must know something I don't because it seems he's getting a cold shoulder.
 
I think Montoya had the potential but, unlike Schui and Alonso, if his car wasnt 100% he wasn't anywhere. I dont think he understood that 3rds and 4ths won championships as much as 1sts.

Also it doesnt help when you break your contract!
 
Montoya was always swashbuckling in his driving, but it's true he didn't seem to want to save the car and finish to get points - he was always balls-out chasing the leaders until he a)broke the car b)crashed or c)caught them.

It was fun to watch but maybe a bit sloppy for an F1 driver. Those cars aren't free!
 
I agree Montoya was great fun. I know the guy who was rack man for Bernoldi (I think thats who it was) who went straight up the back of Montoya in Brazil 2001 when it looked like Montoya would win. But also did some REALLY stupid things (break tested Ralf and someone else in Monaco a few years ago, if someone had been killed he would have been in the brown and smelly).

I just never understood why Montoya went to McLaren, he just wasnt right for them. I dont think Ron liked all the "piss" and "****" that he kept saying on live TV. And then the "tennis" accident just killed him off really.

A lost tallent but I am sure he will get on great with all those Texan guys in NASCAR, you take your attitude over there and you will get on GREAT! You wont be punted into too many walls at 180mph!
 
iTwitch said:
I'll believe it when I see it. I'm still waiting on the return of Prost and/or Mansell. :eek:
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At least Mika can fit in his car... (just ask the 1995 McLaren designers!)

Also now you come to mention it Prost did a test for McLaren in 1996 3 years after he won the Championship so it isnt unheard of I suppose. Lauda did a test for Jaguar at Valencia a few years ago and binned it, much to the delight of Eddie Irvine!
 
The simulator is one that McLaren have back at Woking. They use it for all manner of things such as driver training, circuit knowledge etc. All the teams have one but McLarens is known as one of the best.

They had one as far back as the Prost / Senna days as Prost was always king in it. At the time when it was mentioned, one of the journolists said it was just a glorified game so they put him in it on Silverstone. The bloke couldn't even get the car to turn round Copse it was that hard!

If you've never driven a significant single seater for real then its quite hard to comprehend the affect that downforce has one grip levels and how hard those sorts of cars are to drive. Speaking from experience here ;)
 
AndyR said:
The simulator is one that McLaren have back at Woking. They use it for all manner of things such as driver training, circuit knowledge etc. All the teams have one but McLarens is known as one of the best.

They had one as far back as the Prost / Senna days as Prost was always king in it. At the time when it was mentioned, one of the journolists said it was just a glorified game so they put him in it on Silverstone. The bloke couldn't even get the car to turn round Copse it was that hard!

If you've never driven a significant single seater for real then its quite hard to comprehend the affect that downforce has one grip levels and how hard those sorts of cars are to drive. Speaking from experience here ;)
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I can't speak for McLaren but I do know that these simulators that everyone speaks of are totally over estimated. All they can do is test code for the ECU on the car. None have a screen or anything like that showing a circuit or a map of a course. It is not financially viable for them to do that. How much do you think it costs Sony to develop the F1 Championship Edition game that is comming to the PS3? At a guess $20m, maybe even $50m at a stretch. And it has taken years to develop. Even in F1 that sort of vlaue is totally excessive. To fully develop a dynamic simulator that is more realistic than a game console is crazy. All you have is a steering wheel, cheap game console pedals and a feedback screen showing all the data that is collected from a car at a race or test event.

If people want more details on them then PM me but I have to be a little careful what I say on a public message board!

Edit: Found this link on costs of a PC game devlopment. In F1 you have about 2 people developming a simulator as part of their jobs and a total expenditure of about £30k per unit!
 
I've read that F1 drivers familiarize themselves with course modifications using a special version of Gran Turismo 4...truth or fiction?
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I've read that F1 drivers familiarize themselves with course modifications using a special version of Gran Turismo 4...truth or fiction?
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There is actually a lot of truth in that! At the end of the day a driver knows how to drive a car. What he may not know is the exact layout of the circuits. I think it was Jaques Villeneuve that used to learn the circuits on a computer game. I dont know about other drivers but I am sure they have a go at new circuits when they come out on computer game before they actually visit there.
 
Being a Finn, I don't believe Mika will return to F1 ever again. He has nothing to gain, but everything to lose. He won Schumi when The Great One was at its best, so he will not come back only losing to Kimi and Heikki.

He will also not come back as a permanent test driver. There are lots of younger talents for that job...

No, it was just for fun.
 
I agree that he may have more to lose than to gain, but it seems like many drivers have a hard time quitting...I'm curious to see whether he gets back in the car again and what McLaren have to say about it, especially if he proves to be fast (unlikely).
 
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